


Sprains and Surprises

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [28]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Crime Scenes, Gen, I Tried, I literally did about 5 minutes of research max, Kate is a good person, McGee is a bit skittish, Medical Inaccuracies, Men Crying, Minor Injuries, Non-Sexual Age Play, Parental Jethro Gibbs, ish, make-shift medical...stuff?, sprained ankle, ssh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9548342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: When everyone is out at a crime scene, DiNozzo can't help but yank on everyone's chains a bit. But he gets his when he forgets to look where he's going.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bowsandarrows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowsandarrows/gifts).



> This is for bowsandarrows because it's loosely based on a request of theirs, for an injured Tony and comforting Gibbs. I couldn't figure out how to do it without it being too OOC here, so I'm writing from Kate's perspective. We see the bit I could do and not the stuff I couldn't. It's shorter than my last few, though whether that's a good or bad thing, I'll leave up to you guys. ;) Feel free to let me know what you think! I live on feedback and suggestions for new stories!

Kate sighed and moved the branches that were hanging low on the trees surrounding the crime scene out of her face for the umpteenth time. There was a dead Navy Captain who had been shot through the shoulder, and no bullet had been found, as of yet. Which meant, lucky her, she had to look for it with DiNozzo and McGee. Now, McGee she didn't mind. But DiNozzo would not _shut up_ , just like always. "...It just sounds like a movie title to me! 'Exsanguination'...just screams horror movie to me! What about you, McGoo?"

McGee rolled his eyes at the nickname a few feet away from her but continued to engage Tony. "Not really. Besides, anyone who knows what it means would think it was about taxidermy or something."

DiNozzo, who was a yard in front of Kate and McGee and walking down the hill the ground formed, shook his head. "Probie, you have _so_  much to learn," he tutted. "One day, you too shall understand."

"Yeah, right," McGee muttered.

Kate smirked but said nothing.

DiNozzo turned to look at McGee. "You say some-- _holy_ \--!" One moment, DiNozzo was just about to snarl at McGee, the next he was tumbling head over heels down the rest of the hill, grunts punctuating the decent.

Kate made her way forward as fast as she could while watching her step. There was an upturned tree root right where DiNozzo lost his footing. "Tony? You all right?" she asked.

"Ow..." was the only response she got.

"Tony, come on, Gibbs is gonna kill us if we don't find that bullet. Can you get up?" Kate prodded.

She didn't get a verbal response, and she frowned. "Is he okay?" McGee asked from halfway up the hill.

"I don't know," Kate said.

Tony pushed himself off the ground and tried to put weight on his ankle. Emphasis on tried. He yelped and dropped to the ground again, whimpering.

Kate internally started to panic. This definitely wasn't DiNozzo she was dealing with. Gibbs needed to get here. Now. "McGee, go get Gibbs, I'll make sure Tony is okay." Getting no response, she turned to McGee. "McGee!" she snapped.

McGee was fixated on Tony. "He's--he's crying, Tony's crying...Tony never cries about anything! He's not--he's not dying or something, is he?"

"McGee, I can't have both you and Tony freaking out right now. Someone needs to go get Gibbs, and someone needs to stay with Tony. I'm more of a familiar face to Tony, so I should be the one to make sure he doesn't hurt himself again and the one to keep him calm. You have a good memory, anyway. You can bring Gibbs here without so much as a misstep if you focus on where you're going and what's around you."

She didn't get a response. So today was going to be just an all around difficult experience. _Great_. "McGee! Go get Gibbs! Now!"

McGee looked over to her sharply, nodded, and high-tailed it back to the crime scene.

Kate sighed through her nose and crouched down to the ground. This wasn't the first time she had dealt with Tony in bad situations, and she doubted it would be the last. "Hey, Tony, where does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

Tony looked up, sniffling, and pointed to his right foot. Kate reached toward it and Tony whimpered. Kate stopped. "What's wrong?"

"It'll hurt," he sniffled.

"I'll be careful, Tony, I just need to look at it," Kate promised.

Tony looked down at his foot, then back up at Kate. He nodded. "Okay," he whispered.

Kate nodded and grabbed Tony's foot, bending it into a more natural position. Tony yelped. "Sorry," Kate said, wincing. She picked it up and took off the shoe and sock on his foot, feeling the ankle joint. "How badly did I hurt you? Scale of 1 to 10?"

"Six," Tony mumbled.

"Okay, you probably sprained something," Kate told him. "But it's fine, because Gibbs is gonna come down here and help you up, and we can get you somewhere where you can ice your ankle and rest."

Tony poked his ankle and frowned. "Hurts."

"Yeah, well, it's a sprain. It will hurt a little," Kate said. "You're being really brave for not panicking."

Tony smiled a bit. "Doesn' hurt 's much 's other things, an' I got someone with me this time."

Kate nodded. A rock skittered down the hill next to her and she looked up to find Gibbs skidding down the side of the hill, McGee following behind. "Are you two okay?" he called.

"I'm fine, but I think Tony sprained his ankle," Kate called back.

Gibbs slid down the last of the hill and almost face planted at the bottom. "Tony? Not DiNozzo?" he clarified.

"The one and only," Kate said. She gestured to Tony's ankle, which was turning an angry gray-purple. "It's coloring like a bruise. My money is on a sprain."

Gibbs sighed. "Let's get him to Ducky," he said. "Tony? Can you stand up?"

Tony looked over to Gibbs for the first time since he had arrived and started to cry. Gibbs looked at Kate. "What did I say?"

Kate shrugged. "He tried to stand up earlier and couldn't, but I don't understand why that would make him cry."

Gibbs rubbed a circle on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, Tony, ssh. You'll be okay. Just take a few deep breaths. What's wrong?"

Kate stood and took a step back to allow the two some space to talk semi-privately. McGee made his way to the bottom. "This is my fault," he muttered, scratching at the back of his neck.

"How would this be your fault?" Kate asked.

"If it weren't for me Tony might've watched where he was going."

"Tim, this is _Tony_  we're talking about. He never looks where he's going. None of this is your fault," Kate scoffed.

McGee nodded, but didn't look convinced. Kate sighed. "It's not your fault, Tim. Not everything is, no matter how much you're convinced of it. If Tony wasn't talking to you, he'd be talking to me, or even talking to nobody. And he could do all of those things while looking where he was going."

"I guess that's true," McGee admitted. "But I can't help but feel awful."

"Well, then try and take your mind off it, if you can," Kate reasoned. "I mean, Tony's gonna need a make-shift splint until we can get back to the van, right? How about we look for something that can act as a splint until then?"

McGee brightened and nodded. "I used to be a scout, I know enough first aid to help with that. Tony'll probably need a boot or a brace, but for now a splint will work. We need one or two hard, stiff objects to keep Tony from moving his ankle around, and we'll need to secure it to his leg somehow..." he looked down at his tie and pulled it off. "Well, my and Tony's ties can work. We just need something stiff enough to keep his foot in place but bendable enough that it can go under the heel of his foot, to secure the ankle."

Kate nodded and looked around for anything that might fit that description. She was glad she could distract McGee while Gibbs worked with Tony; the last thing they needed was _two_  kids at the crime scene. She picked up some bark that had fallen off a nearby tree, which had bent sideways but was still solid. She held it up to McGee. "Will this work?" she asked.

"Looks almost perfect," McGee said. "Let's see if it'll work."

They walked over to Tony and Gibbs. Tony was in Gibbs' lap, sniffling, while Gibbs stroked the boy's hair. Kate blinked. "What happened?" she asked.

"He was worried about desk duty, of all things," Gibbs chuckled, running his fingers over Tony's scalp. "He'll be okay, if a bit dramatic."

"We have stuff for a splint," Kate said, holding up the bark. "We just need Tony's tie."

Gibbs undid the offending neckwear and passed it to Kate, and she promptly passed it to McGee. She lifted Tony's foot and positioned the bark up against his ankle, and McGee quickly tied knots near the top and the base of the splint, tucking the extra fabric into the band going around Tony's leg. "He should be okay if he doesn't put weight on his foot," McGee said. "Of course, he'll need an actual splint or ankle brace ASAP..."

"You think, McGee?" Gibbs scoffed. "Where's DiNozzo's other shoe?"

Kate looked around and picked it up. "Got it. We can go back and drop Tony off to look for the bullet."

"No need," Gibbs said, rifling through his pocket and pulling out a sealed evidence bag with a bullet in it. "Found it on the trip out here."

"Of course you did," Kate muttered, shaking her head. "Do you need help getting Tony up on one foot?"

"It would be appreciated," Gibbs said.

Kate took Tony's hands in hers and hauled him off the ground. He didn't let his right foot touch the ground. "C'mon, Tony, let's get you to Ducky, make sure you're all right," Kate coaxed.

Tony looked her over and shook his head. Kate resisted the urge to growl. She could deal with kids okay, but living with a giant one for most of the week made her patience grow thin rather quickly when _he_  was the one being obstinate. "Why not?"

"Gremlin," Tony mumbled.

Gibbs stood and took most of Tony's weight. "Palmer's not gonna suspect a thing, Tony," he assured. "You know you're great at pretending to be an adult, even when it's hard, and I doubt you'll have to try that hard if Ducky sends Palmer to the scene for something or another."

"You sure?" Tony asked uncertainly.

Gibbs nodded. "And if he ever did suspect anything, I'd make sure that everything gets cleared up real quick. You trust me to take care of it, don't you?"

Tony looked down at the ground and nodded slowly. Gibbs smiled and nodded. "Well, then, there's no need to worry. Let's get back to the van. You can rest while McGee and Kate get any other evidence might be out here, though I doubt there's anything left, the way you picked over the scene."

With a slight smile and a small laugh as encouragement, Gibbs led the team up the hill and back to the scene, a normally 15-minute walk turning into a half-an-hour debacle with Tony having to stop whenever his foot accidentally made contact with the ground too roughly, which was quite often. But ultimately they did get back to the van. Gibbs sat with Tony while Ducky looked him over, and Kate, McGee, and Palmer were stuck looking for any last-minute evidence. "What's going on back at the van?" Palmer asked Kate.

"Oh, uh, Tony sprained his ankle, we think," Kate said. "Ducky's making sure he's all right."

"But why can't we be over there? It's not like Tony has any injuries that would require privacy, right?"

"It's just..." Kate mulled over her words. How could she phrase this so it sounded innocent? "Tony doesn't like people seeing him hurt. It's a security thing. He can show weakness around Gibbs, maybe Ducky, but I don't think there's anyone else he really opens up to."

All three of them watched as Gibbs carried Tony back to the van, talking to him gently the whole time. Though none of them could hear the words he was saying, or even the tone, the gentle look on his face was enough to tell anyone that he was concerned. "He cares about Tony a lot, doesn't he?" Palmer asked, tone almost wistful.

Kate squinted at the scene by the van, and noticed Gibbs carding his fingers through Tony's hair again as the boy got comfortable. "Oh, you have no idea."


End file.
